IAN BOGIE hopes Gateshead have finally got over their defensive difficulties as they prepare to visit Southport tonight.

The Heed recorded their first clean sheet of the season at the weekend, when Yemi Odubade’s goal midway through the second half gave them a hard-fought win at Nuneaton and extended their unbeaten start to six games.

That victory lifted Bogie’s side up to fourth place in the Blue Square Bet Premier, and the boss is looking for a repeat performance at Haig Avenue this evening.

“Keeping the clean sheet at Nuneaton was almost as important as the win, to be honest,” said the Gateshead boss. “When you haven’t kept a clean sheet for a while, sometimes it can become a psychological thing.

“We have conceded late goals which have cost us points on a couple of occasions this season, so the lads defended really well in the final 20-25 minutes to protect our one-goal lead.

“It was a tight game and I always felt that one goal would settle it.

“We created a few opportunities and thankfully Yemi made one of them count.”

Gateshead have begun their league campaign with three wins and three draws, and Bogie is hoping that good start continues against Liam Watson’s Sandgrounders.

Southport have yet to win on home soil this season and suffered the disappointment of a 3-0 defeat against Telford on their own patch at the weekend.

“We’ve kept our unbeaten start going and we’re still in the mix near the top of the table,” said Bogie.

“But we have got another very difficult game ahead tonight at Southport.

“In many ways, it is a similar situation to the one we faced on Saturday because, like Nuneaton, Southport haven’t won at home yet.

“They will be smarting after losing 3-0 at home to Telford at the weekend and Liam Watson will be expecting a reaction. Southport have had a slow start but you know exactly what you are going to get from one of Liam’s teams.

“You know they will make life very difficult for you and you will have to perform to get anything out of the game. But if we can get something at Southport we’ve then got back-to-back home games against Dartford and Tamworth, and hopefully we can capitalise on those.”

Ryan Donaldson is again unavailable as he completes a three-game suspension tonight, while James Curtis (hamstring) and James Brown (groin) are still injured.

And that means Bogie will take the same squad of players to Southport that made the journey to Nuneaton.